Why Your Business Needs and Deserves a VIP On-Site

We’ve talked often about the importance of finding time to work ON your business, not just IN it. And let’s be honest – even though you know this, most of you are so busy with your day-to-day busy-ness that you’re just not getting it done, which is why you need and deserve a VIP on-site.

Many of our clients have discovered that taking even a half day away from that day-to-day, WITH their team, does wonders on so many levels. First, the necessary planning gets done. Beyond that, specific action steps get identified and people commit to those action steps, with defined completion dates.

So the wishes become goals that, with action steps and committed folks meeting deadlines, turn into results.

What happens in addition to that, though, is what gets me really excited. At recent VIP on-sites, here are some of the topics we got into, and the cool outcomes.

The “Ideal Week” as a Way of Life

Time management continues to be one of the top issues we hear across the board. So, we often introduce the Ideal Week during our on-sites. The process is straightforward – put the most important items into your Ideal Week first; add the less important; and always leave “flex space” for unanticipated interruptions. There are three tips, though, that most people have their wake-up moments around:

If a disruption comes up, don’t delete the more important task; instead, move it into that flex time so it still gets addressed.

Let go of perfection. Understand that hitting your Ideal Week 60% of the time is considered doing pretty well.

Consider the personal application of this as well; its benefit isn’t limited to the workplace.

Following a recent onsite, I learned that one of the team members had put the Ideal Week into action at home, putting up a whiteboard for the entire family to see and participate in. No more questions about who needed to be where and when, or what was going on later in the week – it was all on the board!

Educate to Better Communicate

Inevitably, most teams also reference “better communication” as one of their greatest desires. That can be with clients, as well as within the team – with each other.

We often incorporate D.I.S.C. training as part of our on-sites, and with good reason. Having a deeper level of understanding of who you are, and how to adapt to treat others as they want to be treated, is invaluable. Personality profiles give us insight on internal motivators, work styles, and so much more. And understanding the differences and how it might alter someone’s perception of how we communicate can lead to more effective interactions not only with clients and fellow team members, but also our own families and friends.

In fact, we had some clients – a married couple – tell us that learning about D.I.S.C. had helped them rescue their relationship with their son; they finally understood his personality and were able to adapt their behavior to have communication breakthroughs, instead of non-stop breakdowns.

Another popular and timely element of communication is having the tough conversations. Few people enjoy confrontation, and technology has made it way too easy to avoid direct discussions, especially when the subject matter is uncomfortable.

At a recent on-site, we discussed some key tips on having the tough conversations:

First, establish some common ground. Taken from the professional mediation environment, when talks get heated and people disagree, it’s important to be able to return to the common ground in order to diffuse negative emotions.

Second, focus on the desired outcome.

Certain personality types have an overwhelming need to be right. Others need to be liked. Don’t let your personal needs get in the way of that desired outcome.

Stick to facts. When you allow emotions to override the data, all sorts of mayhem can ensue.

Do it now. The longer you wait to have a difficult conversation, the more things fester and the harder it is to reach a resolution.

There’s so much more that can get covered during an on-site. Other things we do:

Systems Implementation made easy using the Mind Mapping technique

Professional Development Plans for individual growth

Process Evaluation to identify areas to improve efficiency

One-on-One Sessions with individual team members to discuss their own issues and desires privately